Turn Your Bags and Bottles Into Oil

Plastic shopping bags are, of course, made of plastic, which is made from petroleum. A Japanese inventor has figured out how to convert them into fuel.

The gadget essentially melts plastic bags and bottles and condenses the vapors into crude oil that can be used for home heating, according to PhysOrg.com. The process takes about an hour and emits water vapor and CO2.

A power plant in the Washington, D.C., area is testing similar technology but on a far larger scale. The machine offered by Blest Corp. is believed to be the first developed for home use. The company offers it in three sizes, from a small desktop model (shown) to a 5,000-pounder capable of producing 5 kilos of oil an hour.

The machine works with polypropylene, polyethylene and polystyrene. Blest says it can convert two pounds of plastic into one quart of oil using one kilowatt-hour of energy. The crude oil can be further refined into gasoline, but you’ll need another machine — sold by Blest, of course.

At $10,000, the machine certainly isn’t cost effective, but the company hopes to bring costs down as demand rises.